New York Regents Take a First Step Toward Reform

The New York Board of Regents last month gave preliminary approval
to a set of proposals that would produce significant changes in the
state's education system--including an increase in graduation
requirements in all major subjects, more frequent testing of students,
a longer school year, and higher standards for teachers.

The Regents will hold 10 meetings across the state this fall to hear
public comments on the measures and will take final action next
February or March. The state could begin phasing in the wide-ranging
changes as early the fall of 1984, officials said.

Gov. Mario M. Cuomo and the state legislature will have to approve
any programs that require additional funding. One teachers'
organization has estimated that the reforms could cost New York schools
an additional $1 billion annually.

Commissioner of Education Gordon M. Ambach said he will have cost
estimates for the package ready by next year. "I'm very optimistic
about the legislature," he said. "I believe that what the legislature
is looking for is a way to connect additional funds to program
changes."

Mr. Ambach said the legislature showed a willingness to increase its
role in education by increasing state aid to local districts by $1.2
billion over the last four years, despite fiscal problems.

Course Requirements

The plan, which would be phased in over the next 12 years, calls for
students to take at least one more course in mathematics, science, and
social studies; current policies require one year of mathematics, one
year of science, and three years of social studies. Students seeking
the Regents's honors diploma would be required to take additional
courses in both mathematics and science.

All students also would be required for the first time to take
courses in the arts, show proficiency in a foreign language, and
demonstrate an ability to use computers in several applications.

Students would take more state-mandated examinations, including four
new tests in social studies, two new tests in science, and one new test
in a foreign language. Occupational-education students, for the first
time, would take basic-competency tests in their fields. The school
year would be extended from 180 to 190 days to make up for
instructional time lost to testing.

The traditional K-12 school schedule would also change. Parents
would have the option of enrolling their children in pre-kindergarten
programs.

Students who show great aptitude in major academic subjects could
begin their high-school sequence for those subjects by the 8th grade,
which would enable them to take advanced courses as upperclassmen in
high school.

Officials of education organizations in New York praised the goals
of the measures but took exception to some provisions, particularly the
foreign-language requirement. They also expressed fears that the
schools might become "elitist," to the detriment of below-average
pupils.

Clyde O. Eidens, president of the New York Council of School
Superintendents, said the longer school year and resulting higher
salaries would help districts attract better teachers, which he
described as "the single most important problem of schools."

But Mr. Eidens and others warned that stiffer academic requirements
would increase dropout rates. "We have to look at the unfinished agenda
in vocational and cooperative education," said a spokesman for the New
York State United Teachers (nysut), the state affiliate of the American
Federation of Teachers.

And Stanley L. Raub, executive director of the New York State School
Boards Association, said teachers do not have enough disciplinary
authority to use class time more efficiently, one of the main goals of
the new program.

Teacher Testing

Teachers would also be given a battery of new tests. New teachers
would be required to pass competency examinations in the fields in
which they plan to teach, and all teachers would undergo annual
evaluations.

In addition to the 10 extra days for student testing, the teachers
would be employed another 10 days for training and planning.

Elementary and junior-high schools would be required to follow a
state curriculum, which now serves only as a guideline. Junior-high
schools would be required to spend at least 115 minutes daily on
English, social studies, and a foreign language, and another 115
minutes daily on mathematics, natural science, and technology.

A half-year course called "introduction to careers" would be added
to the junior-high school curriculum.

nysut, which represents 95 percent of all elementary and secondary
teachers and all public-college faculty members, estimates that
implementing the reforms will cost more than $1 billion annually.

About $500,000 to $600,000 would be needed to pay the higher
salaries that would result from the longer school year. Other funds
would be required for inservice training, laboratory equipment and
computers, language courses, and development of tests, according to
nysut estimates.

Charles Santelli, director of research for nysut, said the Regents
appear to have evaded the funding issue. He singled out the proposal
that would require students to pass a foreign-language test by the end
of the 9th grade.

"They're not mandating new courses, they're mandating that students
pass an exam," he said. "If they're going to really staff [language
classes], it's going to cost some money."

But Mr. Ambach placed special emphasis on the initiatives that do
not require much extra money. Those initiatives include requiring
students to do interdisciplinary projects in all grades, using class
time more efficiently, revising the curriculum, and "mainstreaming"
handicapped and remedial students into the regular academic
programs.

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